Duties
by seasaltmemories
Summary: In which Zarc learns there's more to a marriage with a human than he originally thought.


**A.N. This is a continuation of a fic from ao3, to be specific, this corresponds to the third chapter of timahina's Collections, Sacrifical. To give some quick context, Ray was originally sent as a sacrifice to be eaten by the god, Zarc; however, he mistakes her for a different type of sacrifice, a bride, and Ray finds herself as his wife instead.**

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"So what does being a god entail?"

By now Zarc had thought he had gotten used his new bride's quirks, but she seemed to have more surprises left up her sleeve. Most of the time he enjoyed this unpredictability, but when faced with a question like this, he was left a bit dumbfounded.

"Um what do you mean by that?" He scratched his head, as he tried to figure out an explanation. "It's been a while since I was human so I'm not sure how well I can compare the differences."

"Not that," Ray shook her head. "I guess what I mean is that I know you protect my village, but the legends never really explain the logistics of everything."

Zarc let out a sigh of relief. So this was about fighting. That was easy enough to talk about. "If someone wrongs the region that's under my care then I simply bring vengeance. You know–ka boom–smiting and stuff." He mimicked a small explosion with his hands.

Purple eyes studied the movements fervently. "So ka boom?" She copied his gesture and he had to suppress a slight laugh.

"That's usually how it goes, I don't like cleaning up messes."

"Ah," Ray began to chew on her lip at that. "I guess there's no way for me to help with the smiting then."

Zarc couldn't hold back his laughter this time. "I think I can handle it myself. There's not much a human like you can do."

"Oh," She stopped chewing and bit down on her lip, frustration evident. Such an odd human. While he still found the entire situation humorous, he thought it best to calm her after the last time she got this embarrassed.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over this," He smoothed her hair in comforting circles. "It's my job to smite for a reason."

"But am I fulfilling my role well enough?"

At her words, something inside him clicked. With a smirk, he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Ah, there's no reason to be insecure Ray, I am definitely satisfied with my bride." He leaded forward to initiate a kiss, but before their lips could meet, he felt her gently shove him away.

"I'm not talking about… that." There was a slight edge to her voice. More and more it kept popping up as she got accustomed to him, and Zarc had to admit he liked it. "I'm more concerned about my other wifely duties."

"Other?"

"You do know there's more to it than just being there for sex, do you?"

If he could still blush, he would have been as red as a tomato. "It's not like I've had a bride before."

"Then let me put it simply for you," Ray pinched the bridge of her nose. "The head of the house is traditionally the wife. She manages all the accounts and supervises the household and its staff. My mother died when I was young, so I'm quite skilled at it."

Zarc mulled that over. He wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the concept, but he had no true permanent residence–simply wandering the earth as he pleased. The past few days had been tough enough having to slow down his usual pace to something a human could keep up with.

"You know the closest thing I have to a household is a few twigs," He gave a sheepish shrug. "Can I just like… return you to your village? When I need you, I pick you up, when I'm done I just drop you back off."

"No!" She leaned forward, amethyst eyes wide and alert. "You can't do that it's… extremely rude and disrespectful. I would be humiliated."

"Well it's extremely rude of them to give me a bride when I have no idea how to take care of one," Zarc huffed. What to do now; gheez he had never expected a human to be so much trouble. "I got it!" Before Ray could react, he scooped her into his arms. "I'll ask some other gods. They might know something that can help."

"Oh great…" Ray muttered to herself.

"Oh come on, do you think I'd drop you?" Zarc wiggled his eyebrows mischievously at her.

"Yes," There was that edge, but it was accompanied by the pleasant hold of her hands around his arms. He really did like this about her. When thinking about it all, changing a few habits to include a bride couldn't be too hard.

"If you must, then don't let go of me," With that the two of them took off for the skies.

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 **A.N. Managed to finish this in time for your birthday Tima! I hope you've had a great day and enjoyed this**


End file.
